Our literary jurors sound off this month's suspenseful family novels

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Our closest-ever three-way heat went to this novel's plucky heroine, whose clan has been scattered from Vietnam to Paris and L.A.—and whose adventures in Ho Chi Minh City's fresh commercial bustle in search of her disgraced brother captivated many of our readers.

Phan takes readers from Vietnam to Malaysia and then to France and Los Angeles in this sweeping, heart-wrenching tale. The Truong and Vo families leave their war-ravaged homeland for better lives but find themselves separated from each other both physically and emotionally. Yet Cherry's journey to Vietnam to reconnect with her exiled brother evidences how the families are forever bound together. Phan gives readers a story rich in history, showing us that while families might be separated, familial ties remain strong.—Jaime Boler, Laurel, MS

At first, I had difficulty distinguishing between the characters, as there are so many and you meet them all at once, but ultimately I liked how Phan told the story of Cherry's heritage through many different voices. I felt it gave the reader a more comprehensive view of the very difficult circumstances the family confronted time and again. It was a rich, sweeping history of family that was relatable regardless of your own cultural heritage.—Ashley M. Burbank, CA

They way Phan moved between the various locations and interweaves personal letters into the text establishes a steady pace that moves the story forward. Each chapter and letter is a piece of the puzzle that comes together at the end, creating a detailed story of the families. Phan also tells a more general story of cultural duality and personal identity in this novel. Each individual deals with the experiences of migration and displacement differently, maintaining, altering, or losing various aspects of their Vietnamese cultural heritage while adding pieces of European and American cultures.—Heike Wollenweber, Miami, FL

While it started out slow, The Reeducation of Cherry Truong proved to be a wonderful tale of family and the bonds that tie and break so easily. Cherry's romantic life also plays for a nice twist in the novel. Phan's terrific descriptive skills really give the reader a feel for each setting in the novel.—Merideth Bonvino, Newport, RI

This story brings to light the challenges that a traditional family from another culture faces when integrating itself into the society of new culture, and it reflects how difficult it becomes to balance the old and the new in the next generation.—Tracey C., Mount Carmel, IL

Aimee Phan creates an extended family so full of history and drama that this novel moves along at an exhilarating speed. Her descriptions of each of the family members are sometimes so realistic you feel as though you know them personally. The only inconsistency lies with the main character, Cherry, who is not very well fleshed out, but you still root for her and her cousins at the end of the novel.—Melissa Jackson, Bloomington, IN

Readers admired how this tale of estranged sisters in Michigan opened, via their father's illness, into a journey back to ancestral Korea—and the discovery that they're not the first women in their family to have had to face hidden issues.

In Forgotten Country, first-time novelist Chung skillfully weaves together memory, history, and Korean folk tales to tell us the beautiful story of a family who left Korea for the United States 20 years ago. The father is dying of cancer, while the younger sister has cut off all ties to her family. Seeking cutting-edge cancer treatment, what is left of the family goes back to Korea. In the country they left behind all those years ago, the whole family finally reconnects and slowly learns to forgive each other for past misdeeds. Chung shows us that one person can be different people in different countries; one's homeland, one's birthplace, should never be a "forgotten country."—Jaime Boler, Laurel, MS

The style of Chung's novel effortlessly brings together the family history and the present-day story such that you understand the family's mysteries in a manner relevant to the progression of the tale. I found the family dysfunction to be quite believable and accessible.—Tracey C., Mount Carmel, IL

I enjoyed the story of Janie and her family and was very moved by her relationship with her father. I found elements of this book very relatable for all cultures, as death is the one thing no one will ever escape.—Ashley M. Burbank, CA

Though Forgotten Country is a good read, it falls short in various respects. I wished the relationship between the protagonist, Janie, and her sister, Hannah, were explored further; I was expecting more depth, and what we experience feels too shallow. I was also disappointed not to learn more about their family's "painful legacy"; I'm still not sure what this common legacy is besides the fact that all three generations have to deal with issues of identity, and I would have liked to see that aspect of the story more developed, because it felt too marginal. Thus, overall the book is somewhat lacking, though I appreciated Chung's poetic writing and use of Korean folktales and stories to craft a piece about a family, loss, and obligations.—Heike Wollenweber, Miami, FL

The sensuous textures in this tale about Maya Das, an Indian-American psychiatry resident, seduced readers even when a family-inheritance crisis and her head-spinning sojourn in India came to seem overstuffed with unlikely events.

Gage's novel is like a fictional version of Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat Pray Love. In Other Waters, Maya undergoes a life-changing journey that takes her from Manhattan to India. I love how believable the tale is and how Maya successfully navigates two cultures in creating a new identity for herself.—Jaime Boler, Laurel, MS

The Das family is split between India and the United States, but a funeral and a wedding bring them together in this novel about family ties and expectations. Maya's character tends to be melodramatic, and the inclusion of the family curse is not completely believable, but the story is filled with interesting cultural dialogue.—Melissa Jackson, Bloomington, IN

Other Waters follows Maya in a journey to understand herself as an Indian-American and to weave an identity that intertwines her Indian heritage with her American life. While Maya's emotions come across as inauthentic at times, prompting me to feel more annoyed than sympathetic, Gage has a gift for describing scenery and really capturing energy and ambience. Each vibrant chapter comes to life, such that you can almost smell the marigold, see the temples, taste the chai, and feel the waters of the Ganges.—Heike Wollenweber, Miami, FL

Gage kept me completely interested as Maya, a resident psychiatrist, tried to forge one identity from two cultural experiences and navigated between her different personas in an ironically schizophrenic way. The way in which Maya suffocates herself with familial obligations and then uses a breathing technique to calm down is strangely amusing. Definitely a nice read.—Rubi Mendoza, Canyon Country, CA

While I liked the characters in the beginning, I found the end of this book unsatisfying. I couldn't relate to Maya's internal struggle about her place between two cultures. I also felt that the book wandered in the middle with her relationship with an Indian man, which didn't seem cohesive with the rest of the book.—Ashley M. Burbank, CA